RSA 332-M:1 Purpose.

I. The legislature finds that the following facts and circumstances exist, which make the enactment of this statute necessary for the protection of minors and the furtherance of the public interest:
(a) Physicians have an ethical and legal duty to obtain patients' informed consent before ordering testing and treatment.
(b) Older children and adolescents should be asked to provide their assent for treatment in addition to their parents' permission.
(c) A patient's informed consent requires adequate information, capacity to decide, and absence of coercion.
(d) Best practices urge shared decision making between parent(s) and child and, in general, preferring alternatives that will not foreclose important future choices by the adolescent and the adult the patient